1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chip discharge device of a machine tool, and more particularly, to a reduction in an amount of a coolant which is discharged with chips to the outside of the machine and taken out of the machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some machine tool includes a chip discharge device automatically discharging chips produced by cutting machining or the like to the outside of the machine. The chip discharge device of this type has a problem that a coolant supplied to a workpiece machining part is discharged with the chips to the outside of the machine, which creates a demand for reducing an amount of the coolant taken out of the machine.
Conventional chip discharge devices designed to meet such a demand include one disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-96237. In this conventional device, a coolant tank disposed under a workpiece machining part is extended to the outside of the machine, a chip conveyor carrying dropping chips is disposed in the coolant tank, and the chip conveyor is extended to the outside of the machine.